As she was trying to come up with a way to tell him an excuse rather than the truth of what was actually going on, the drugs had taken hold of him and he slowly drifted off to sleep again.
Having taken her books with her, she studied there in his hospital room as he slept. He didn’t wake up again, but she was just glad to be around him, to know that he was going to be okay.
Chapter 6
That night when she got home, she’d barely come in the door when her phone buzzed.
When she checked, she saw she had a text from Reginald.
“Home yet?”
Rosalina sighed and grumbled to herself. It had been such a nice but long day. She was exhausted. “Yes,” was all she said in return.
“Good. Come over.”
Rosalina whimpered and stomped her feet. She just wanted to sleep!
“Seriously, can this wait until tomorrow?”
“No complaints.”
She screamed. It was only because she was home alone and no one would hear or care. If you got it, flaunt it, and she did.
She had to hold up her end, or the bill wouldn’t be paid. She knew it, Reginald knew it, but she was coming to the end of her rope. No other options, she angrily snatched up the straps of her bag and left the house.
It was 11pm by the time she got back to the Florence’s house, and Reginald was there at the door waiting for her.
“Sure took your time,” he said, but shrank away when she glared at him.
“What is it, Reggie? I know the agreement was for no complaints, but I’m so tired. Please.”
“All right,” he said, “all right. I know you’re tired. I just need you to clean something for me.”
Her frustration and exhaustion nearly brought tears to her eyes.
“Seriously? You called me over to clean something? This couldn’t have waited for tomorrow?”
He looked at her and shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry.”
“Fine. No complaints. Let’s get to it. Do I have to put the outfit on?”
Reginald laughed. “No, no outfit. What you have on is perfect.”
“Oh, great. My sweats are perfect. I can’t wait to see what it is I have to clean. Did you smear poop in your room again?”
He wrinkled his nose and took her by the hand.
“No, no poop. Promise.”
Rosalina paused and looked down at their hands. Why wasn’t she pulling hers away? His fingers were warm and soft.
“What is it then?” she asked.
“A plate.”
“A plate? One plate?”
“Mhm,” he said and nodded.
“Come on.”
Reluctant but intrigued she let him guide her through the house to the dining room. The only light in the room came from the soft glow of a row of candles.
Two place settings were situated near one another at the end of the table, along with a number of covered platters.
“Reggie?”
“Have a seat,” he said, gently pulling her by the hand to the head of the table.
As he pulled her chair out for her, she looked at the fine silverware and china, then up to his smiling expectant face.
“Reggie, if this is another trick or joke, I really don’t have it in me.”
“It’s not.”
“I’m serious! I’ll lose it.”
Reginald shook his head quickly, the joy draining from his face.
“It’s not, I promise. I wanted to do something nice. Sit down.” When she looked at him dubiously, he added, “Please?”
It was the first time she’d heard the word come out of his mouth so sincerely.
Choosing to believe him for now, she set her bag down and sat in the chair. The excitement returned to his movements in a flash, and he ran to the table to remove the covers from everything.
“Is this all still your favorite?”
There were mashed sweet potatoes, baked chicken, fresh dinner rolls. The smells woke her stomach and she realized she was ravenous.
“Reggie, you cooked me dinner?”
“God no!”
She looked at him, and he was quick to amend the statement.
“You’re an amazing cook.”
“Chef.”
“Right, chef. I’m a lousy one. Trying to cook for you would be an insult. No, I contacted your school and paid a few of your classmates to come over and cook for you. I warmed it up before you came over. It should still be fresh.”
“You called my school?”
“Yeah. Why? Is that okay?” The expression on his face fell into one of dread.
“Yes, it’s fine. I just… it’s very sweet. I don’t know what’s going on.”
He swallowed and set about spooning food onto their plates.
“I wanted to do something nice for you and hear about how your dad is doing.”
“But…”
“What?”
“It’s nice. That’s all. This is very nice and exactly what I needed. Thank you.”
He smiled at her, and she felt the old stirrings in her flare up. “You’re welcome.”
They ate together, the conversation easy. She told him of her father and how happy she was to finally see him awake.
They talked about which classmates he had come over, and the mess they’d made. Unlike Rosalina, they didn’t clean as they went, and he had to actually clean the kitchen on his own so she wouldn’t have to. They drank some wine and shared jokes.
As she felt looser, they found themselves sitting closer to one another. Soon they moved to the couch to chat, and she was in his arms, her head rested against his chest.
Somehow she knew it was wrong, and she shouldn’t, but so much of her wanted to. She’d always wanted to.
“Rose?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“Yes?”
“There’s something else. I mean, another reason I made you dinner.”
Her heart immediately hammered in her chest, and she lifted her head from his chest. Every part of her wanted him to say it, and at the same time to not say it.
“Well, I know I’ve been terrible. I thought it’d be funny to make fun of you and break you. You always looked at me so… you never treated me like I was above you. It bothered me, and I wanted you to… I don’t know.”
“Uh huh,” she said, suddenly not feeling the warm flattery feeling she had been.
“Anyway, you didn’t. You’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. No matter what I did, you took it. I don’t get how you can be so tough. I… well then, I…”
“You what?”
“Rose, I’m in love with you.”
Rosalina pulled back from him and set her glass on the coffee table.
“That’s not funny.”
He set his glass down next to hers, his face serious.
“It’s not a joke. Haven’t you noticed I haven’t had any women over lately?”
“I just thought…”
“Well you’re wrong. It’s because it felt wrong. It’s all wrong. It was you. Rose, it’s always been you. When you rejected me so long ago, I didn’t want to be with anyone again.”
“So you decided to be with everyone?”
“Yeah, kinda,” he said, shrugging.
“I couldn’t find that connection again. There’s never been anyone like you. These last few weeks, I’m seeing again all the things I fell in love with the first time.”
Rosalina’s mind swam with the information, and she realized that the same was true of her.
No man could ever live up to how she’d felt about Reginald so many years ago, and part of her fury at him was how he’d become so rude and strayed so far from the man she fell in love with. The man she knew he could be. It was that man she’d been seeing again recently.
“The deal’s off,” she said.
“What?” he said quickly, confused.
“No. I gave my word.”
“No, no good. Deal’s off.”
Reginald sighed sadly.
�
�Why?”
“Because I said no sex stuff.”
Rosalina leaned in and grabbed him by the shirt and hair and kissed him.
They made out wildly, their hands tearing at one another’s clothes as they stumbled and spun their way up the stairs to his room.
“There’s no poop in your bed, is there?” she asked him as they closed the door.
Reginald laughed.
“No. No poop.”
“Good,” she said and tossed him to the bed. As she took off her shirt, he sat on the edge of his bed and watched, his eyes hungry for her.
“I’ve always loved your body,” he said as he watched her slowly push down her pants.
“You’re so beautiful.”
Rosalina scrunched her nose. “You say that, but I’ve seen the women you bring home. Sticks. I’ve got more than enough for two of them.”
“Right, and do any of them look like you? No. You know why that is? Because you can’t be replaced.”
Rosalina rolled her eyes and smiled.
“Cut out the sweet talk, handsome. You already got me in your room.”
Reginald jumped up, grabbed her by the waist and spun her. They laughed together before falling onto his bed and he kissed her.
“That’s how you know I’m telling the truth.”
They kissed and in moments they were both naked, rolling on the top of his bed. He was on top of her, his hardness running along the length of her.
Rosalina’s heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears. Scared, nervous, but she couldn’t care for any of that. She’d never been more turned on in her life.
“Are you ready?” he asked, the head of his erection gently pressing against the opening of her sex.
“Yes,” she breathed.
He pushed, her walls stretching to accommodate him. The sharp pressure of him piercing through, taking her virginity hurt at first, and she had to make him stop so she could deal with it.
Slowly it passed, but when it did, she rocked her hips testing the sensation. It was delicious.
Rosalina licked her lips, moving her body to feel him inside of her. It was all the encouragement he needed, and he began a steady rhythm.
Their breathing picked up with their efforts. Reginald groaned near her ear as he thrust away on top of her, and she held him close. In moments they shared their orgasms together, sleep soon taking hold.
Chapter 7
When she woke the next morning, Reginald was gone. Gone.
The realization of what she’d done the night before hit her like a Mack truck. Dread and regret overwhelmed her.
How could she have been so stupid? Of course!
After all this, he was only after what she wouldn’t give him before. And he finally got it. How could she not have seen this coming?
She wanted to be angry with him, but really, she was angry with herself. This wasn’t his fault, it was hers. She knew what kind of man he was.
It took a lot of guts to sit there and act surprised, to put the blame on someone when she knew full well who he was. Now he was gone, off to brag that he’d finally gotten her.
Scrambling for her clothes, she had just found her pants when the bedroom door opened.
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” she said without looking up.
“Away. You win, okay?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You won! Congratulations.”
“Rose.”
“What?” she asked, spinning around to face him finally.
There he stood in his pajamas holding two cups of coffee. All of her steam escaped in a rush and her shoulders slumped.
“You got me coffee?”
He nodded and set the mugs on the bedside table.
“Did you think last night was a trick to get you into bed with me?”
Rosalina refused to take her eyes off of the coffee mugs, now too ashamed to look him in the face.
“Not last night.”
“You woke up and I was gone, so you’d just assumed…”
She swallowed, the emotion now too strong for her to even speak.
“Rose, I’m sorry to disappoint, but no.”
Reginald came over and pushed her head lightly to his chest before wrapping his arms around her. All of her tense pressure deflated and she melted against him.
“I’m sorry. It was a horrible thing to assume.”
“No, it makes sense. I don’t blame you. You’re wrong, though. I meant everything I said last night. In fact… I have a way to prove it.”
“You do?”
“Mhm. I’m going to share something with you that I’ve never shared with anyone. No one outside of the family knows. It’s something I’m only meant to show the one I… the one I choose for my mate.”
“What are you talking about?” she pulled her head away from his chest and looked up at him.
“You’ll want to stand back.”
He pushed her away, and once she was back, he took off his clothes and laid them on the bed.
Stretching his head from side to side, his body began changing! All of his muscles bulged, and he was covered in fur. Right before her eyes, Reginald turned into a bear! All she could do was cover her mouth with her hand and take it all in.
“I don’t understand.”
The bear before her slowly turned back into Reginald, and he stepped forward.
“I’m a werebear. My parents and I. That’s why I still live at home.”
“You mean, all this time…?”
He nodded.
“It’s why I’ve been so mean. You were the one that was always meant for me, and I’d ruined it. I failed you. But now I have you back, and I never want to let you go.”
“Oh Reggie,” she said.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The two came together once again. As they kissed, he grabbed the clothes that she’d gathered up and after pulling them out of her arms, tossed them away.
“Are you going to take me like an animal?” she asked him teasingly.
Reginald arched an eyebrow, and then pushed her over the edge of the bed. All the fear she’d felt before was gone now, and when he entered her from behind like that, there was no pain.
Rosalina moaned with pleasure as he took her, his pelvis slapping against her.
They were mates now, and nothing could ever tear them apart.
***
PREVIEW OF ‘TIED TO THE WOLF’ BY ASHLEY HUNTER
Chapter 1
“Alright everyone, lock up! Tonight’s a full moon, and you know what that means!”
A collective sigh rose from the group within the tavern. Patrons exchanged uneasy and drunken glances yet didn’t dare argue as the barkeep began to stock up for the late night that followed. It had become a sort of routine now.
It had started a couple of years back… the attacks. They had received word from other villages and towns nearby that women would disappear, never to be seen again. The first few weeks had left the town relatively underwhelmed—news is news, and a few missing women wasn’t strange. As time passed, however, that changed when a woman in their own town began missing, and then the sightings…
Wolf packs were not unusual around their town; surrounded by dense woods and a deep forest that only those who were born and raised here could dare venture in comfortably.
Hearing a pack of wolves howl into the night was not unlike listening to crickets when the time of year was adequate. It wasn’t until recently that those sounds would cause people to hide within the safety of their own homes.
It got to the point where disappearances were so high that the local authorities were having trouble catching up, and people who had once offered freely to search within the woods now remained painstakingly silent when the sheriff asked for volunteers. Each name, each missing face, soon littered over the missing person’s post in the Sheriff’s station.
Young women didn’t dare go out at night… and on the night of a full moon,
the streets were bare and empty save for the occasional drunkard or idiot straggler who believed themselves too invincible to get taken.
The bar was clearing out by 9 pm on a Friday night and the barkeep could only watch his customers walk out with a disappointed look that was visible to only his most familiar employees.
It was usually at this point where one of his employees would pipe in, and it was usually Cecilia.
She was a sweet girl, barely in her mid-twenties and far too innocent to completely comprehend the dangers of the outside world.
The barkeep, Big Rocko, had turned from seeing his customers leave for the night to see his best waitress beaming up at him with a comforting smile.
“Pretty good night, right?” she offered optimistically.
Rocko shook his head, “It would’ve been better if we didn’t have this issue.”
“It’ll get better!” Ceci said, patting the burly man on the shoulder as she cleared out the tables. Rocko shook his head as he watched her work.
“Ceci, you should get going home.”
She blinked up at him, big hazel doe eyes and plump cherry lips.
“What’re you talking about, Rock? I’ve got tables to clean up.”
“Not tonight, you don’t,” Rocko shook his head, rubbing his fingers against one of his eyes.
“There’s still a bit of sunlight left, you should get going before the howls start up.”
The girl gave a good-natured snort, “I’ve left much later than this and made it home safely, Rocko. I can handle myself.”
“I’m sure those are famous last words,” he retorted.
The older man gave her a stern glare, “Go home, Cecilia. I don’t want you to tempt no devils here.”
Cecilia paused for a moment, turning to peer into her boss’ eyes before sighing with a small nod. “Yeah, okay.”
Rocko smiled at her. She was a good kid.
“Get going, I’ll light some sage to ward them off from you enough for you to get home.”
“Thanks Rocko,” she said as she removed her apron and began to head out.
He didn’t catch the way she muttered to herself, how she couldn’t help but snort.
This place where she grew up wasn’t particularly remarkable. It was a small joint, a small location where those who grew up in it sort of just ambled on to aimless duties and activities. Ceci wasn’t born here though, that much she had been told.
Romance: Bearilicious: BBW Paranormal Bear Shifter Romance Collection (Werebear, Bear Shifter, BBW Paranormal Romance) Page 24